| Waterfowl Articles |
John N. Felsher's Waterfowl Hunting Adventures
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Well before dawn, the camouflage-clad hunter stepped off the gravel
road running through the wildlife management area and followed a small
creek into the forest.
The creek opened into a flooded oak grove about 100 yards from the
road. There, leaning against an oak to break up his outline, he loaded his
shotgun and waited among the spiraling wisps of fog rising from the water.
As the sun barely kissed the eastern sky, he began hearing swiftly
beating wings buzzing unseen overhead. With two more minutes until legal
shooting hours, ghostly gray and black comets whistled through treetops at
breakneck speed. They appeared suddenly and vanished in milliseconds.
Time! With muscles taunt, he strained to see what created shrill
whistling sounds coming his way. There, just in front of him, a dozen
shrieking, twisting shapes materialized briefly between an opening in the
trees. He fired and fired again at the disappearing specters.
More shapes flashed at him and vanished, seeming to dodge his every
shot. Others rocketed pass before he could reload. He jammed one shell
into his semi-automatic shotgun. Fire erupted from the muzzle in the gray
half-light as he desperately blasted at fleeing specters. He fumbled for
more shells as birds appeared overhead. Boom! Boom! Boom! The best
opportunities always passed as he reloaded again and again.
Soon, nearly a box of spent shell casings floated in shallow water. At
last, a lone duck hustled low over the water, twisting and darting between
the trees. The hunter fired three times, finally connecting.
The duck splashed down through the thin ice crystals floating on the
water surface at the end of the flooded hardwood basin. Suddenly, the
skies emptied of all life. Only an occasional woodpecker's chilling call
punctuated the stillness. The hunter glanced at his watch. Fewer than 15
minutes had elapsed since shooting hours began and already the morning
flight faded into memory.
The hunter warmed his frigid hands on the overheated barrel and
retrieved his prize. As he approached, a glint of sunlight illuminated the
damp iridescent hues of a handsome drake wood duck. It would look
superb mounted in his den. He still had time to go home, shower and make
it to work on time. Maybe tomorrow, he’ll hunt again.
Not every hunter has access to coastal marshes, bays or lakes or can
afford to join an expensive hunting club. Not every hunter can afford the
boats, blinds and decoys it takes to hunt ducks. However, nearly every
hunter east of Texas can take a crack at fast-flying wood ducks close to
home.
Among America’s most familiar and handsome waterfowl, wood ducks
provide fast, furious shooting at daybreak. Although hunters occasionally
bag them in salt marshes or bays, woodies inhabit quiet rivers, swamps,
tree-lined reservoirs, upland creeks, beaver ponds, agricultural stock
ponds, oxbow lakes and sluggish bayous. Dabblers, woodies thrive in
nearly any slow-moving shallow body of fresh water.
One of the few ducks that can land in trees, they nest in cavities, away
from countless predators. Extensive logging of ancient trees nearly wiped
out wood ducks early in the 20th century. To supplement natural holes,
state conservation agencies and private organizations built an extensive
network of artificial nesting boxes in swamps, lakes and sloughs throughout
its range. Consequently, these colorful little speedsters rebounded
remarkably. Woodies now rank among the most common ducks in the
Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways, truly a wildlife management success story.
Hunters who do venture into swamps and river bottoms to hunt woodies
find outstanding shooting, if only briefly. Flocks of woodies fly at first light
(or before) from their roosting areas to feeding areas, but the flights only
last a few minutes. Pairs, singles and small flocks whistle toward their early
morning destinations, darting and zigzagging between trees like oversized
woodcock. After these golden minutes, wood ducks become more difficult to
hunt. Often, the evening flight takes place after legal shooting hours end.
Woodies generally follow the same patterns each morning and evening
as they fly from roosting to feeding areas and back. This predictability
exposes their vulnerable weakness. With a little scouting and planning,
hunters can position themselves in the right spot and shoot almost
continuously at wave after wave of ducks zipping overhead, if only for a
short time.
Swift fliers with large whitish breast feathers, they fly with their bills
pointing slightly down, unlike other ducks. Often, they fly in small, loose
flocks. Frequently, hunters hear woodies long before they arrive within
shotgun range. Noisy ducks, while flying, their wings make distinctive
swishing, whistling sounds.
Because of their striking markings, distinctive sounds and flight
patterns, hunters can easily recognize woodies, even in low light conditions.
Upon recognition, hunters often must acquire targets and fire in seconds.
Listening helps prepare hunters for incoming birds.
Extensive scouting and observing helps determine where these sporty,
tasty birds fly and feed. Hunters should watch where ducks fly during their
morning and evening flights. They could locate ducks by their whistling
calls, set up next to trees and capitalize on these patterns. Once a hunter
determines the pattern, a hot gun barrel follows.
If people locate feeding areas, they can hunt wood ducks a little longer.
In such areas, woodies might make their appearances a little later and for
longer duration. Woodies feed on a variety of nuts, berries, fruits, wild
grasses, sedges and seeds. Among all foods, they prefer acorns from white
oaks. They swallow them whole, feeding where overhanging oaks drop their
precious protein cargo into the water.
Find a small clearing along a transition zone where an oak ridge meets
a swamp. If hunters can position themselves under a flight path used daily
by woodies, they could expend many shells bagging a limit of hard-to-hit,
erratically flying speedsters. When flying over treetops, woodies use natural
breaks in the trees as mountain climbers use valleys and passes. If hunters
could locate a place where trees thin or younger trees make a dip in the
outline, they could enjoy spectacular shooting.
Boat hunters gain access to more hunting grounds. Since much of a
swamp looks similar, especially at night, ducks navigate in semi-darkness
using prominent landmarks. Almost like deer using trails, woodies use
streams, bayous and rivers as highways and landmarks. Often, they fly
between trees down mid-stream. Hunters can set up early in the morning
and shoot out of a stationary boat even without a blind.
In dim dawn light, ducks cannot see sportsmen very well, especially
when remaining still and hiding against a dark background. By the time
woodies can see a sitting boat, the morning flight ends anyway. Some
people have even successfully bagged wood ducks from sparkling bass
boats tied under trees next to a riverbank.
Small, camouflaged aluminum flatboats make excellent shooting
platforms. Light and maneuverable, they can penetrate thick cover where
larger boats cannot go. Their low silhouettes make them difficult to see in
the darkness. Cover any bright object, like some outboard motors, with
camouflaged or dark cloth. Position these boats against a dark
background, like overhanging bushes or trees with a bayou, pond or river
channel in front. The backside of a river bend offers an excellent place to
set up an ambush. Ducks roaring down the river won’t see the boat until
almost on top of it.
Hunters don’t need decoys for pass shooting. Ducks fly their chosen
travel routes every day. Tiny black and gray objects virtually materialize
instantaneously and flash pass like jet fighters on afterburners. In pass
shooting without decoys, hunters often must take shots at long ranges, so
use magnum loads and a shotgun with reach. In dense forests, ducks may
fly above the trees. A full choke with Number 2 or 4 shot works best in these
situations.
Since woodies fly so early and so briefly, hunters can shoot a couple
birds and then go to work. However, people with more time to kill might
expend a little more effort. After woodies stop flying, hunters can jump-
shoot them. Admittedly, this requires considerable skill, stealth and luck, but
it could pay big dividends.
Especially effective in limited water areas, land-based sportsmen may
jump ducks by walking slowly along upland streams. After the morning flight,
watch where woodies head. If possible, follow small sluggish streams in the
direction in which ducks flew. These may eventually lead to beaver ponds
or other larger water bodies containing feeding or resting ducks.
Stalk slowly and quietly along the shoreline and prepare for sudden
action. Wary woodies can pinpoint hunters from a considerable distance.
Stop frequently, look and listen. Watch for movement. Look for rippling
water in normally placid pools. Listen for whistling, splashing or other
sounds. Look under overhanging trees and behind logs. Wood ducks can
hide almost anywhere and often seek shelter under cover as protection
from airborne predators like hawks. Don’t discount even the smallest water.
These puddle ducks don’t need much.
Woodies may explode in a startling rush of water and wing beats from
small puddles and streams. Like woodcock, they quickly disappear in
darting, twisting paths through trees that would seem difficult for a gnat to
navigate.
Boat hunters can also jump woodies in flooded swamps or along
bayous or small river channels by using small, light boats, as long as they
don’t use any motors while hunting. Small camouflaged canoes provide
excellent jump-shooting platforms. Check local regs to make sure.
Use the same basic jump shooting techniques by stopping, looking and
listening, but with an aquatic adaptation. With a shotgun handy, dip the
paddle silently in the water and keep it in the water as much as possible.
Water dripping off paddles can alert wary ducks. Sound travels long
distances over water, especially on still mornings. In shallow, hard-bottomed
creeks, boaters can use paddles almost like push poles, sculling along
without lifting them from the water. When coming around bends, take the
inside curve, using the shoreline to mask movement. Hug shorelines as
closely as possible for maximum cover.
Not everyone can hunt coastal marshes or expensive rice fields, but
nearly every southern hunter can find excellent wood duck habitat nearby.
Abundant and widespread, woodies provide outstanding waterfowl action
close to home for those on a low budget.
road running through the wildlife management area and followed a small
creek into the forest.
The creek opened into a flooded oak grove about 100 yards from the
road. There, leaning against an oak to break up his outline, he loaded his
shotgun and waited among the spiraling wisps of fog rising from the water.
As the sun barely kissed the eastern sky, he began hearing swiftly
beating wings buzzing unseen overhead. With two more minutes until legal
shooting hours, ghostly gray and black comets whistled through treetops at
breakneck speed. They appeared suddenly and vanished in milliseconds.
Time! With muscles taunt, he strained to see what created shrill
whistling sounds coming his way. There, just in front of him, a dozen
shrieking, twisting shapes materialized briefly between an opening in the
trees. He fired and fired again at the disappearing specters.
More shapes flashed at him and vanished, seeming to dodge his every
shot. Others rocketed pass before he could reload. He jammed one shell
into his semi-automatic shotgun. Fire erupted from the muzzle in the gray
half-light as he desperately blasted at fleeing specters. He fumbled for
more shells as birds appeared overhead. Boom! Boom! Boom! The best
opportunities always passed as he reloaded again and again.
Soon, nearly a box of spent shell casings floated in shallow water. At
last, a lone duck hustled low over the water, twisting and darting between
the trees. The hunter fired three times, finally connecting.
The duck splashed down through the thin ice crystals floating on the
water surface at the end of the flooded hardwood basin. Suddenly, the
skies emptied of all life. Only an occasional woodpecker's chilling call
punctuated the stillness. The hunter glanced at his watch. Fewer than 15
minutes had elapsed since shooting hours began and already the morning
flight faded into memory.
The hunter warmed his frigid hands on the overheated barrel and
retrieved his prize. As he approached, a glint of sunlight illuminated the
damp iridescent hues of a handsome drake wood duck. It would look
superb mounted in his den. He still had time to go home, shower and make
it to work on time. Maybe tomorrow, he’ll hunt again.
Not every hunter has access to coastal marshes, bays or lakes or can
afford to join an expensive hunting club. Not every hunter can afford the
boats, blinds and decoys it takes to hunt ducks. However, nearly every
hunter east of Texas can take a crack at fast-flying wood ducks close to
home.
Among America’s most familiar and handsome waterfowl, wood ducks
provide fast, furious shooting at daybreak. Although hunters occasionally
bag them in salt marshes or bays, woodies inhabit quiet rivers, swamps,
tree-lined reservoirs, upland creeks, beaver ponds, agricultural stock
ponds, oxbow lakes and sluggish bayous. Dabblers, woodies thrive in
nearly any slow-moving shallow body of fresh water.
One of the few ducks that can land in trees, they nest in cavities, away
from countless predators. Extensive logging of ancient trees nearly wiped
out wood ducks early in the 20th century. To supplement natural holes,
state conservation agencies and private organizations built an extensive
network of artificial nesting boxes in swamps, lakes and sloughs throughout
its range. Consequently, these colorful little speedsters rebounded
remarkably. Woodies now rank among the most common ducks in the
Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways, truly a wildlife management success story.
Hunters who do venture into swamps and river bottoms to hunt woodies
find outstanding shooting, if only briefly. Flocks of woodies fly at first light
(or before) from their roosting areas to feeding areas, but the flights only
last a few minutes. Pairs, singles and small flocks whistle toward their early
morning destinations, darting and zigzagging between trees like oversized
woodcock. After these golden minutes, wood ducks become more difficult to
hunt. Often, the evening flight takes place after legal shooting hours end.
Woodies generally follow the same patterns each morning and evening
as they fly from roosting to feeding areas and back. This predictability
exposes their vulnerable weakness. With a little scouting and planning,
hunters can position themselves in the right spot and shoot almost
continuously at wave after wave of ducks zipping overhead, if only for a
short time.
Swift fliers with large whitish breast feathers, they fly with their bills
pointing slightly down, unlike other ducks. Often, they fly in small, loose
flocks. Frequently, hunters hear woodies long before they arrive within
shotgun range. Noisy ducks, while flying, their wings make distinctive
swishing, whistling sounds.
Because of their striking markings, distinctive sounds and flight
patterns, hunters can easily recognize woodies, even in low light conditions.
Upon recognition, hunters often must acquire targets and fire in seconds.
Listening helps prepare hunters for incoming birds.
Extensive scouting and observing helps determine where these sporty,
tasty birds fly and feed. Hunters should watch where ducks fly during their
morning and evening flights. They could locate ducks by their whistling
calls, set up next to trees and capitalize on these patterns. Once a hunter
determines the pattern, a hot gun barrel follows.
If people locate feeding areas, they can hunt wood ducks a little longer.
In such areas, woodies might make their appearances a little later and for
longer duration. Woodies feed on a variety of nuts, berries, fruits, wild
grasses, sedges and seeds. Among all foods, they prefer acorns from white
oaks. They swallow them whole, feeding where overhanging oaks drop their
precious protein cargo into the water.
Find a small clearing along a transition zone where an oak ridge meets
a swamp. If hunters can position themselves under a flight path used daily
by woodies, they could expend many shells bagging a limit of hard-to-hit,
erratically flying speedsters. When flying over treetops, woodies use natural
breaks in the trees as mountain climbers use valleys and passes. If hunters
could locate a place where trees thin or younger trees make a dip in the
outline, they could enjoy spectacular shooting.
Boat hunters gain access to more hunting grounds. Since much of a
swamp looks similar, especially at night, ducks navigate in semi-darkness
using prominent landmarks. Almost like deer using trails, woodies use
streams, bayous and rivers as highways and landmarks. Often, they fly
between trees down mid-stream. Hunters can set up early in the morning
and shoot out of a stationary boat even without a blind.
In dim dawn light, ducks cannot see sportsmen very well, especially
when remaining still and hiding against a dark background. By the time
woodies can see a sitting boat, the morning flight ends anyway. Some
people have even successfully bagged wood ducks from sparkling bass
boats tied under trees next to a riverbank.
Small, camouflaged aluminum flatboats make excellent shooting
platforms. Light and maneuverable, they can penetrate thick cover where
larger boats cannot go. Their low silhouettes make them difficult to see in
the darkness. Cover any bright object, like some outboard motors, with
camouflaged or dark cloth. Position these boats against a dark
background, like overhanging bushes or trees with a bayou, pond or river
channel in front. The backside of a river bend offers an excellent place to
set up an ambush. Ducks roaring down the river won’t see the boat until
almost on top of it.
Hunters don’t need decoys for pass shooting. Ducks fly their chosen
travel routes every day. Tiny black and gray objects virtually materialize
instantaneously and flash pass like jet fighters on afterburners. In pass
shooting without decoys, hunters often must take shots at long ranges, so
use magnum loads and a shotgun with reach. In dense forests, ducks may
fly above the trees. A full choke with Number 2 or 4 shot works best in these
situations.
Since woodies fly so early and so briefly, hunters can shoot a couple
birds and then go to work. However, people with more time to kill might
expend a little more effort. After woodies stop flying, hunters can jump-
shoot them. Admittedly, this requires considerable skill, stealth and luck, but
it could pay big dividends.
Especially effective in limited water areas, land-based sportsmen may
jump ducks by walking slowly along upland streams. After the morning flight,
watch where woodies head. If possible, follow small sluggish streams in the
direction in which ducks flew. These may eventually lead to beaver ponds
or other larger water bodies containing feeding or resting ducks.
Stalk slowly and quietly along the shoreline and prepare for sudden
action. Wary woodies can pinpoint hunters from a considerable distance.
Stop frequently, look and listen. Watch for movement. Look for rippling
water in normally placid pools. Listen for whistling, splashing or other
sounds. Look under overhanging trees and behind logs. Wood ducks can
hide almost anywhere and often seek shelter under cover as protection
from airborne predators like hawks. Don’t discount even the smallest water.
These puddle ducks don’t need much.
Woodies may explode in a startling rush of water and wing beats from
small puddles and streams. Like woodcock, they quickly disappear in
darting, twisting paths through trees that would seem difficult for a gnat to
navigate.
Boat hunters can also jump woodies in flooded swamps or along
bayous or small river channels by using small, light boats, as long as they
don’t use any motors while hunting. Small camouflaged canoes provide
excellent jump-shooting platforms. Check local regs to make sure.
Use the same basic jump shooting techniques by stopping, looking and
listening, but with an aquatic adaptation. With a shotgun handy, dip the
paddle silently in the water and keep it in the water as much as possible.
Water dripping off paddles can alert wary ducks. Sound travels long
distances over water, especially on still mornings. In shallow, hard-bottomed
creeks, boaters can use paddles almost like push poles, sculling along
without lifting them from the water. When coming around bends, take the
inside curve, using the shoreline to mask movement. Hug shorelines as
closely as possible for maximum cover.
Not everyone can hunt coastal marshes or expensive rice fields, but
nearly every southern hunter can find excellent wood duck habitat nearby.
Abundant and widespread, woodies provide outstanding waterfowl action
close to home for those on a low budget.
Going low tech and low budget can
add high excitement to a duck hunt
add high excitement to a duck hunt
Mike Giles shows off a drake wood duck he bagged while hunting
flooded timber near Stuttgart, Ark. Wood ducks make challenging
sport. They fly fast and erratically, offering extremely difficult targets.
flooded timber near Stuttgart, Ark. Wood ducks make challenging
sport. They fly fast and erratically, offering extremely difficult targets.
